Walter Bradford was a 17-year-old disc jockey in Forrest City, Arkansas, and Sam Phillips cut these sides with the hopes a placing the titles with Chess Records. (A couple of months
earlier, Bradford's "Dreary Nights"/"Nuthin' But The Blues" had been paired up release on SUN 176, but had been withdraw).

"REWARD FOR MY BABY*" - B.M.I. - 3:01

Composer: - Walter Bradford

Publisher: - Delta Music Incorporated

Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued

Recorded: - June 14, 1952

Released: - September 1977

First
appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm CR 30126-B-3 mono

SUN: THE ROOTS OF ROCK - VOLUME 11 - MEMPHIS BLUES SOUNDS

Reissued: - 1996 Charly Records (CD) 500/200rpm CDSUNBOX 7-3-11 mono

SUN RECORDS - THE BLUES YEARS 1950 - 1958

''Reward For My Baby'', this, however, is a powerful and arresting track and it bears an uncanny resemblance
to James Cotton's "Cotton Crop Blues", recorded a couple of years later. Both titles feature guitarist Pat Hare, and it is Hare's work which enhances the similarity. This would only seems to have been Hare's second session - and if it was, then its readily
apparent that he'd emerged from Arkansas with a fully- formed style, which already incorporated that familiar distorted tone. The sheer uninhibited force of his playing here really is quite remarkable - and to complete the parallel with "Cotton Crop
Blues" there is the same ominous piano played by Louis Calvin Hubert , and an anguished vocal delivery by Bradford which is surprisingly similar to Cotton's version.

"LOVE FOR MY BABY*" - B.M.I. - 2:14

Composer: - Walter Bradford

Publisher: - Delta Music Incorporated

Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued

Recorded: - June 14, 1952

Released: - 1986

First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm Sunbox 105 mono

SUN RECORDS - THE BLUES YEARS 1950 - 1956

Reissued: - 1996 Charly Records (CD) 500/200rpm CDSUNBOX 7-3-12 mono

SUN RECORDS - THE BLUES YEARS
1950 - 1958

Like Willie Nix and Jimmy DeBerry a couple of months earlier, Bradford tackles
Robert Lockwood's traditional ''Take A Little Walk'' - albeit with a slightly amended lyric. His high-pitched vocal delivery rather betrays his youth, and on this side he is frequently overshadowed by Pat Hare's merciless guitar chops. If a complete
acetate of Bradford's Sun 78 is ever found, perhaps we'll hear something that Sam Phillips heard, and something we don't hear in the unissued sides.

Other than Pat Hare's dominant and unmistakable guitar playing on ''Too Blue
To Cry'' there is little to commend this side to your attention. Hare's playing is usually cause for celebration. This is no excepten, although you have to put up with Bradford's unremarkable singing, consistently erratic sense of timing, and the presence
of somebody ( Louis Calvin Hubert , perhaps?) crying incessantly throughout the track. This title, recorded in 1952, was part of the ''crying blues'' tradition that enjoyed some popularity in the early 1950s (see Rosco Gordon's ''Weeping Blues''
for a local example) before it mercifully wore itself, and many listeners, out. Again, Pat Hare offers a solo that comes close to his playing on ''Cotton Crop Blues'', two years before that iconic work with James Cotton was recorded.

"LUCY DONE MOVED**" - 1 - B.M.I. - 2:25

Composer: - Louis Calvin Hubert

Publisher: - Delta Music Incorporated

Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued

Recorded: - June 14, 1952

Released: - 1986

First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm SUNBOX 105 mono

SUN RECORDS - THE BLUES YEARS 1950 - 1956

Reissued: - 1996 Charly Records (CD) 500/200rpm CDSUNBOX 7-3-13 mono

SUN RECORDS - THE BLUES YEARS
1950 - 1958

Although listed in the files as a Bradford vocal, the singer here on ''Lucy Done Moved'' is quite obviously older than the one heard on the previous songs. As we know what Pat Hare
sounds like as a singer, we're guessing that pianist Louis Calvin Hubert takes the vocal here. It's a Joe Tuner-style blues without Turner's commanding presence, but still a solid performance highlighted by Hare's coruscating guitar. Hubert
was the pianist on some of Howlin' Wolf's recordings, and made his last appearance at Sun with another Arkansas-based combo, Sammy Lewis and Willie Johnson. From there, his trail goes cold. Bradford reportedly moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and evokes just
the faintest memories from those around at that time. He died in 1995. Drummer Jerry Lee walker later worked sessions in St. Louis and played with Oliver Sain and Little Milton... both of whom were based there, but he too is now deceased. Hare's story is recounted
elsewhere on this sessions website.